


A Red Sun Rises

by sherleigh



Series: Halloween Fic [3]
Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M, Vampire AU, and taem's a qt, feat. jonghyun the human friend, jinki's a scary bastard, key is key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-04-29 09:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5123153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherleigh/pseuds/sherleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gather around, children, and listen to this tale of three unlucky souls</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

 

“Ooh nice, fresh meat.”

 

Jonghyun’s eyes widen and he backs away from Kibum’s side instantly. “The fuck? I knew it… I knew this was a trap. Oh my god, I’m going to die.”

 

Kibum rolls his eyes, cursing his luck that Taemin is home on the day he decides to bring a classmate home from university. He hasn’t done it since The Durham Fiasco, as Jinki had so kindly named the incident, due to whole vampire thing, but things have become so boring around the house lately that he decided to try again. He shouldn’t have.

 

Where he tries his best to pass for human, Taemin loves his natural skin more than anything; loves the fact that he can change his hair, skin and eye colour with less effort than it takes to raise an eyebrow. Kibum and Jinki have gotten used to the way he changes colours like a flashing billboard sign, but it must come as a shock to someone who’s never dabbled in the occult before.

 

Especially someone like Kim Jonghyun, who had asked quite nervously, when Kibum invited him over, whether anyone would be at home. “Your mum, maybe?” he had asked, followed by “So what are your neighbours like?”

 

Kibum can’t really blame Jonghyun for his nervousness. To be invited, out of the blue, to the home of the guy who is known to live with a bouncer working in the infamous red light district – never mind how unbearably nice said bouncer is – and who has a reputation for never inviting anyone to home or even discussing his home life, must be creepy. To be met with Taemin on top of that must be nerve-wracking. That being said, it is completely unnecessary for the man to be backing into a wall whilst haphazardly crossing himself. Especially since he’s an atheist.

 

“That’s not how you cross yourself,” Taemin says, hair changing from blue to moss to sandy in the space of that sentence.

 

Jonghyun whimpers.

 

Regretting very much his decision to bring Jonghyun home to study instead of just meeting him in a café like he does with all of his other course mates – studying wasn’t the only thing he had planned though; he had wanted to show him his albums and clothes and books, and there’s no way he’s dragging all of his precious stuff to and from some random café – Kibum steps between the two of them and glares at Taemin. “Fuck off.”

 

“Why?” Taemin peers over his shoulder. His eyes flash electric blue. “Aren’t we going to eat?”

 

Another whimper.

 

“You know damn well that no eating is going to happen anytime soon,” Kibum says, voice louder than normal. Hopefully Jonghyun will hear, and believe, him.  “We don’t eat people.”

 

“Spoilsport.” Taemin looks at Jonghyun over Kibum’s shoulder again, this time smiling. Kibum refrains from telling him that his smile isn’t as reassuring as he seems to think it is and instead listens quietly as Taemin says “Hi! I’m Taemin. I’m sure Key-hyung talks about me a lot.”

 

“Uh…” is Jonghyun’s eloquent reply. Kibum guesses that he’s probably torn between telling the truth – that Kibum has never mentioned Taemin – or lying in order not to anger the clearly magical and dangerous creature in front of him.

 

“Stop stealing my friend,” Kibum says then. He turns to face Jonghyun, noting with some pride that Jonghyun seems less afraid already. “Sorry, ignore him.”

 

“You…” Jonghyun seems to be appraising him, as if waiting for him to burst into a bouquet of colours as well “you didn’t tell me you lived with fairies.”

 

Fairies. Kibum guffaws at the same time that Taemin scoffs in disgust. Fairies. That’s a first.

 

“I’m a VAMPIRE!” Taemin yells. His eyes rapidly switch between black and gold and his skin has turned the colour of fireworks.

 

Jonghyun just stares at him incredulously.

 

“Really, he is,” Kibum adds, when it seems that Taemin is going to sulk and Jonghyun is going to start fearing for his life again. “But we’ve trained him well, so don’t worry.”

 

“Fuck you,” Taemin hisses. He stomps up the stairs to his room and shuts the door with a bang. Definitely sulking.

 

Jonghyun looks amazed. “I didn’t know vampires could do that.”

 

It annoys Kibum, slightly. He changes his hair from blonde to bright pink, before toning it down several shades to settle for grapefruit. “It’s not so hard.”

 

The open amazement in Jonghyun’s eyes has Kibum blushing slightly. He’s also a little worried about Jonghyun’s lack of self-preservation skills  - really, he shouldn’t be so at ease with being in the presence of vampire so quickly – but he decides not to comment on it.

 

“So, d’you wanna go up to my room? I was thinking we could get started on… or do you want to have coffee? We just got this coffee machine, I can make you a macchiato if you want.”

 

“Coffee would be great,” Jonghyun responds.

 

Kibum makes two cups, and he takes them to where Jonghyun is waiting and, not so discreetly, exploring the house. The latter jumps slightly when Kibum holds the mug out to him.

 

“It’s okay,” Kibum says “Look as much as you want.” It’s not like he has any secrets lying around in the living room and kitchen. In fact, the kitchen is just like any other kitchen in any other human home; it has a cooker and a fridge and a microwave. The living room has a couch and a television and a coffee table with a few magazines and newspapers lying around. Possibly the only thing out of ordinary would be the blood packs in the fridge.

 

“Satisfied?” Kibum asks, and Jonghyun turns red with embarrassment.

 

“Sorry,” he says. “The coffee’s really good.”

 

“As if I would settle for anything less than good. Come on, let’s go up. My textbooks are all upstairs.”

 

Jonghyun follows him quietly, but Kibum can practically hear all the questions he has zipping around in his head. Still, Jonghyun has manners enough to keep those questions to himself, which is a rarity in humans; once they realise that Kibum is a vampire, they seem to think that the ordinary rules of etiquette stop applying and they can ask him all manner of uncomfortable things. It partly why they have a policy of not getting attached to humans if it can be helped.  

 

But Jonghyun is different, Kibum can tell. And for once, he’s curious to hear whatever questions Jonghyun is keeping to himself.

 

“I know you have questions,” Kibum says, once they’re seated comfortably. “I don’t mind if you want to ask me anything.”

 

He doesn’t expect Jonghyun’s first question to be about Taemin. “I didn’t offend your brother, did I?”

 

Taemin is most definitely not Kibum’s brother, but he lets that one slide for now. “He’s just throwing a bit of a strop because I interrupted his fun. He’ll come looking for us soon enough, the nosy little shit that he is.”

 

“Why did you bring me here?” is Jonghyun’s next question. Kibum is impressed; most other people would have asked something related to blood and the consumption thereof, but this – Jonghyun is being so cautious of his feelings that Kibum is touched.

 

“I…” he decides to be honest. “It gets boring, not having any friends other than Taemin and Jinki.”

 

“So… I’m guessing you don’t eat people?”

 

Kibum laughs. “No. I mean, vampires did do that, ages ago. Like, all the stories you heard about Dracula, give or take a few dramatisations, are true. But our culture has evolved as much as human culture has, so one sane actually drinks from humans anymore. In fact, if anyone has anything to fear, it’s us… you know, government experimentation and the like.”

 

“You can drink coffee,” Jonghyun says, pointing at the cup in Kibum’s hand. “And we’ve had lunch together a lot, so you can eat and enjoy human food. And you can go out in sunlight.”

 

“Yes and yes,” Kibum responds, encouraging Jonghyun to draw his own conclusions.

 

Jonghyun smiles. “I guess I wouldn’t mind having a vampire study buddy.”

 

Kibum laughs. “Mind? You should be honoured.”

 

“Why are you taking this course, if I can ask? Like, is it like Twilight where you have to go to school again and again because you’re stuck at this age and if you don’t people get suspicious?”

 

Twilight again. Vampires don’t kill anymore, as a rule, but Kibum is willing to make an exception should he ever run into Stephanie Meyer.

 

“No. And never utter the word Twilight again in my presence.” Kibum grabs a stack of books from the table and walks over to the bed. Jonghyun scoots aside to make space for him. “Have you ever felt like you wanted to be a detective, but at the same time you want to learn how to design couture and how to play the piano and the violin and the flute, but you had to pick one?”

 

At Jonghyun’s nod, Kibum explains more. “Well, I have all the time in the world to learn these things now. I’ve already got a doctorate in Asian literature from Cambridge and I’ve taken a course from Jimmy Choo on shoe-making. Now I want to study music. We only stay in one place for ten years or so, so when we move on I’ll study something else.”

 

“That’s so awesome,” Jonghyun replies, his voice coloured with something Kibum hasn’t heard for a long time now; respect. “You must be so brilliant.”

 

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

 

Jonghyun jumps from the bed and even Kibum is startled enough to flinch. He looks up and sees Taemin on the ceiling – he must have snuck in just now, when he and Jonghyun were talking. Kibum is just glad he hasn’t said anything that Taemin can use against him later.

 

“What part of fuck off don’t you understand?”

 

With a pout, Taemin unsticks himself from the ceiling and falls on Kibum’s bed. Jonghyun backs away minutely. “I’m bored.”

 

“We’re going to study,” Kibum warns.

 

“Do you want to study?” Taemin asks Jonghyun. “This is your first time meeting vampires and instead of asking me to suck your blood you want to do algebra?”

 

“Taemin!”

 

“Well…um…” Jonghyun stammers.

 

“I’ll pull your fangs out if you talk about blood one more time, I swear,” Kibum scolds, grabbing the back of Taemin’s t-shirt and shaking him for good measure. “Also, Jonghyun is a music major, we’re here to study music theory not algebra. You can hang around if you like, but don’t disrupt us.”

 

It is an utterly useless admonishment. It only takes ten minutes before Taemin has usurped Kibum’s place on his own bed, and he’s currently hogging all of Jonghyun’s attention by trying to make music notes appear on his skin.

 

“Are you scared of me?” Taemin asks. He darkens his hair and eyes to midnight black and pales his skin to a corpse-like white, and bares his fangs. “If you saw me coming down an alley, would you scream and faint?”

 

Honestly, as if anyone would be scared of a wannabe vampire in a band t-shirt and skinny jeans. He’d probably be mugged, Kibum wants to say.

 

But Jonghyun nods. “Yeah, you are.”

 

“Great, just great,” Kibum mutters as Taemin crows with victory. “Thank you for encouraging this delusion.”

 

“He is scary,” Jonghyun insists, much to Taemin’s delight, and Kibum sees right through him. He’s winning Taemin over and Taemin doesn’t even know how easily he’s being played.

 

“Do you like skateboarding?” Taemin asks. “I’ve got a couple of extra ones, I can teach you how.”

 

“I broke my ankle in a cycling accident, so thanks but no thanks.”

 

“I’ll take care of you, don’t worry,” Taemin wheedles, draping himself over Jonghyun’s lap. It surprises Kibum, since Taemin is not the type to make friends easily. At least he gets to go out and meet people in university, Kibum realises, whereas Taemin is cooped up here all day. If Kibum is bored and lonely, then Taemin must have it worse.

 

“I’ll think about it?”

 

“Cool.” Taemin wriggles around so that his head is pillowed in Kibum’s lap and his feet are resting on Jonghyun’s thighs. “I don’t use a helmet or knee pads, but I’m sure we can find some for you.”

 

Kibum gives up hope of getting any studying done at all, but secretly, he doesn’t mind. This is better than anything he could have hoped for when he brought Jonghyun home.

 

Still, by the time the sun sets, Jonghyun has completely overcome the surprise of discovering the existence of vampires. He and Taemin are laughing over vampire move clichés, Taemin’s hair and skin sparkling golden like the sun as he giggles, and Kibum almost forgets that Jinki’s shift is almost done.

 

It’s only when he gets a text from Jinki, asking whether he wants any human food for dinner, that Kibum realises how the time has flown.

 

“Jjong, I think you should go now,” he says, body growing cold at the realisation that Jinki could have walked in on them.

 

Something must have given away his fright, because Taemin stops laughing too. His hair and eyes darken from gold to violet and his skin pales.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 

“Sure,” Jonghyun responds happily, apparently unaware of the change in the mood. Kibum fights to keep a smile on his face; he doesn’t want to scare Jonghyun away. “Bye Taemin, it was nice meeting you.”

 

“Don’t forget about the skateboarding,” Taemin says.

 

“I won’t.”

 

A whole ten minutes pass before Jonghyun gathers his books and bags and shoes and finally leaves, and Kibum huffs a breath of relief at the sight of Jonghyun’s back disappearing down the street. Taemin steps up behind him and drops his head on Kibum’s shoulder.

 

“I really like him,” he says, hair turning silver and skin tanning in imitation of Jonghyun’s style. “Are you going to bring him back sometime?”

 

“We shouldn’t get attached,” Kibum says, parroting what Jinki always tells them.

 

“I like him,” Taemin insists.

 

Kibum turns around, catching Taemin in hug, and smiles at him; he can tell from the way that Taemin shifts his appearance again that his smile is a sad one. “I know, babe. I like him too. And I’ll try to bring him around again, but I’m not taking any risks. Are we clear?”

 

It’s a warning that comes not a moment too soon.

 

The door creaks open behind them and Jinki comes in, carrying take-out containers from the samsyupal place around the corner.

 

“Is that for me?” Taemin asks excitedly, pushing out of Kibum’s arms to take the bags from Jinki.

 

Jinki smiles, so kindly that Kibum almost forgets to be afraid. “Yes. And we can finish off the blood packs today. I met Hwayoung this morning, she said she can get us another shipment by the end of the week.”

 

Taemin flashes blue, red and gold like a malfunctioning traffic light and Jinki laughs at his excitement. Even Kibum can’t keep himself from smiling. At times like these, he can’t express his gratitude to the universe that led to Taemin finding them.

 

“Come here,” Jinki says affectionately, reaching out to ruffle Taemin’s hair.

 

That’s when everything goes belly up.

 

It only takes one sniff for Jinki to stop smiling and to turn serious. “Taemin, what’s that smell?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Jinki sniff the air again, and turns to Kibum. “You reek of human.”

 

Kibum wills himself to appear nonchalant when he’s quaking on the inside. “I had classes today, hello?”

 

“This isn’t the smell of a crowd,” Jinki contradicts, taking another deep sniff of him. “This is just one person.”

 

“I had lunch with my classmate.”

 

“Why does it smell like he’s rubbed all over you?”

 

Kibum can’t help blushing at Jinki’s choice of words, and curses himself when Jinki’s expression darkens. “He’s the king of skinship. You can go on campus and ask anyone, Jonghyun is just really affectionate. That’s all.”

 

“Then why does Taemin smell like him too?”

 

That’s when, to Kibum’s relief, Taemin comes up with a good defence. He wraps his arms around Kibum and presses their bodies together in a clearly intimate embrace, and says to Jinki “Because we were in the middle of something when you got back.”

 

It’s a brilliant plan; Jinki makes a disgusted face and backs away. Kibum doesn’t quite understand his distaste at his and Taemin’s occasional sexual escapades – really, what does he expect would happen if he bars them from having any contact with humans – but he’s grateful for it now.

 

With a quick kiss pressed to Taemin’s lips in lieu of thanks, Kibum follows Jinki into the kitchen. He’s glad that he took the time earlier to wash the mugs he and Jonghyun had drunk from, since it would be difficult to explain why there are two mugs when only Kibum drinks coffee in this house.

 

Jinki is heating up blood packs in the microwave. When Kibum moves to stand by his side, he says quietly “I know you’re lonely, but we can’t risk getting close to them. You know that, right?”

 

And as much as Kibum wants to argue, he just nods and says “I know.”

 

~~~

 

_well, that's the first chapter up!_

 

_as usual, read, enjoy and comment, please :)_


	2. 2

Jonghyun soon becomes a regular fixture in their house, and although Kibum was the one to have found him, he’s grown close enough to the both of them that he’s perfectly comfortable coming over to hang out even when Kibum is not at home.

 

How Jonghyun managed to wriggle his way out of skateboarding Kibum knows not, and dares not bring up for fear of re-awakening Taemin’s interest, but he’s come home several times now to find them getting along well enough without him. Sometimes they watch movies and once or twice Kibum has come upon Jonghyun teaching Taemin how to use software and apps to compose. Whatever the reason for their closeness, Kibum is glad for it.

 

Their closeness, however, doesn’t impede Taemin’s ability to be an utter shit sometimes. It’s become Taemin’s favourite thing to turn himself invisible, sneak up on Jonghyun and run his tongue against the back of the man’s neck when he’s least expecting it.

 

After hearing him shriek for the third time in a day – and Jonghyun can scream quite loudly – Kibum catches Taemin around his middle, pins him to the floor and sits on him.

 

“That’s enough,” he warns.

 

“You’re no fun at all,” Taemin complains. His eyes dull from neon green to moss.

 

“Enough.”

 

A pout forms on Taemin’s fair face and, without thinking, Kibum leans down to kiss it away. Taemin responds by adding tongue to what had been intended to be an innocent kiss, and when they break apart Jonghyun is watching them with both confusion and lust in his face.

 

“So… uh, do vampires not believe in the whole incest thing?”

 

“Incest?” Taemin asks, confused. His eyes and hair brighten again, and Kibum can sense a preparation for more mischief in him.

 

“Aren’t you brothers?”

 

“Only in a loose sense of the word,” Kibum explains. “We weren’t born to the same parents, even if you take into consideration our entry into the vampire world.”

 

Thankfully, Jonghyun doesn’t press further. Taemin doesn’t give him much of a chance to, because he looks up at Jonghyun and asks “Would you like to kiss me?”

 

“Yes.” Jonghyun’s characteristic bashfulness has disappeared, and he leans forward to lock lips with an equally eager Taemin. Kibum can’t quite believe that Taemin has managed to beat him to the punch; not after he’s made his attraction to the human obvious. Did Jonghyun really fail to notice? 

 

When he clears his throat, Taemin breaks the kiss with a knowing smile. He’s glowing; golden hair reflecting the sunlight streaming through Kibum’s windows.

 

“Key-hyung is jealous,” he says.

 

“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” There is something almost predatory in Jonghyun’s tone, but his hands are careful as he cups them around Kibum’s face. “Come here.”

 

It turns out that Kibum’s fantasies of kissing Jonghyun do no justice to the actual event.

 

They don’t end up sleeping together that day, but Kibum knows it will happen soon. All three of them want it.  

 

When he brought Jonghyun home, Kibum liked him, but he had no idea just how close they would grow. He finds himself lying awake sometimes, wondering how painful their separation would be when they finally leave this town. He wonders whether it would be preferable to leave Jonghyun behind, or to stay with him or take him somehow, and live their days together until death claimed Jonghyun’s human body for its own. He finds himself veering dangerously close to considering whether he should turn Jonghyun and that’s when he starts worrying about how Taemin will take all of this.

 

That fear comes to fruition when, on a rainy day, he steps into his house to find it reeking of blood.

 

Of Jonghyun’s blood.

 

Without wasting time for thought, Kibum dashes up the stairs, following the scent to where it is strongest.

 

The first thing he sees is Jonghyun’s blood-covered body laid out on his bed, looking paler than Kibum has ever seen in him in life; looking like he’s been drained of every last drop of blood.

 

It’s only once Kibum manages to come to overcome the shock of seeing Jonghyun dead and drained that he notices Taemin, huddled on the floor at the foot of the bed; he’s curled into a ball and is rocking back and forth, whimpering.

 

“Taeminnie?” Kibum gets on his knees in front of Taemin and gently pries his arms away.

 

Taemin is covered in blood too. His face, his mouth, is bloody like Kibum hasn’t seen in a long time now, and Kibum knows by the smell that it is Jonghyun’s blood. He’s afraid to ask Taemin what happened because it seems like the answer is clear enough.

 

“Key-hyung,” Taemin sobs, hands coming up to grip Kibum’s arms. “Key-hyung, I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tears run freely down his cheeks and drip red off his chin. His eyes and skin are blue, sea-like, and that’s how Kibum can tell that he’s feeling lost and scared.

 

“It’s okay,” he forces himself to say. “I’m here now.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Taemin cries, burrowing into Kibum’s arms. Kibum lets him, strokes his hair and tries not to notice the way even Taemin’s clothes are wet with blood. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“It was… we were walking outside and… and there was a car,” Taemin makes a pained sound. “And we didn’t see, I didn’t see and the car drove off and I didn’t know what else to do.”

 

From this semi-coherent explanation, Kibum gathers two things; first, that his worst fears are unfounded, and second, that Taemin had, without thinking, done what he did to save Jonghyun.

 

“It’s okay,” Kibum repeats again, although it most certainly is not. He wipes the tears still running from Taemin’s eyes. “It’s okay, we can handle this. I’m not angry with you.”

 

With encouragement, Taemin finally stands up on shaky legs. Kibum digs through his drawers for clean clothes and gives Taemin a sweater and jeans to change into, and ushers him into the shared bathroom that connects their bedrooms.

 

With Taemin out of the way, Kibum finally gets a proper look at Jonghyun. He’s breathing, faintly, but Kibum can see that his ribcage looks crushed. Whatever damage the accident has caused will be repaired when Jonghyun regains consciousness and drinks his maker’s blood.

 

The thought makes Kibum sick; sick that Jonghyun, who in their months together has never once voiced a desire to be like them, is now doomed to this kind of life and also because Taemin has no idea what it is like to be bitten. The playful nips, though they sometimes draw blood, Kibum gives him when they have sex are nothing compared to the bite of a thirsty newborn.  

 

Taemin comes out of the bathroom, his eyes and skin having changed from stormy sea blue to a lighter sky blue. He’s still scared but less so, and Kibum is reminded that he has to take care of this situation.

 

Jinki is going to kill them all.

 

“We… we have to move him somewhere. And clean the house.”

 

Taemin nods. “He stays on campus, right?”

 

It’s lucky that Jonghyun has a room all to himself, Kibum thinks. They can hide him there while waiting for the change, and Kibum is powerful enough to conjure up a glamour to hide them while transporting Jonghyun there.

 

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll take Jonghyun to his room. You need to burn everything that has blood on it. Don’t do it in the house, take it outside and burn everything, your clothes, my sheets. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes.” Taemin’s hair changes to fiery red.

 

“Good boy.”

 

Kibum takes Jonghyun to his dorm, doing his best not to jostle the still fragile human. It occurs to him that he should kill Jonghyun now, to let fate and nature take their course instead of condemning Jonghyun to a life he never asked for. Like Taemin, he can’t bring himself to let go of Jonghyun. Instead, he lays him in his bed and covers him with his blanket. He takes time that he doesn’t have to wipe the drying blood off Jonghyun’s body.

 

“I’ll come back soon, okay?” With a final kiss pressed to Jonghyun’s cold forehead, Kibum leaves.

 

Back home, Taemin has done an admirable job of cleaning. Kibum can’t smell blood anywhere, but one look at Taemin’s colours fading from one shade to another, instead of flashing back and forth brightly, makes it clear that something is terribly wrong. If Kibum can see it, Jinki definitely will too.

 

“It’s okay, babe,” Kibum says, hoping to reassure himself as well as Taemin. “We’ll figure this out.”

 

That night, when Kibum senses that Jinki is close, he drags Taemin up to his room and pushes him down on the bed.

 

“Play along,” he instructs, hastily pulling Taemin’s t-shirt and jeans off. His own t-shirt follows soon after.

 

Under him, Taemin is shaking with fear, but he does as instructed. He kisses Kibum with a desperation Kibum hasn’t tasted before and pulls him down so that every inch of their bared bodies are pressed together.

 

“I’m home!” Jinki says downstairs.

 

Taemin’s eyes go black.

 

“I love you,” Kibum whispers against Taemin’s lips. “I love you and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

 

Taemin’s eyes turn hazel, warm and full of affection; it takes a beat before Kibum realises that Taemin is mirroring what he can see in him. "Sweet baby," he murmurs, and Taemin pulls him down for a kiss just in time for Jinki to push the room door open. “Guys, did you see the red moon outs-?”

 

Jinki stops mid-sentence and groans when he understands what they're doing. “Really?”

 

“You’re welcome to join us,” Kibum says. He doesn't know where he finds the courage to be sassy in the face of death, but he's not going to question it right now. 

 

“For fuck’s sake,” Jinki grumbles. He shuts the door behind him and Kibum hears his footsteps on the stairs.

 

With a breath of relief, he moves to get off Taemin, but the younger locks his legs around Kibum’s waist. “Don’t go,” he begs, pressing little kisses on Kibum’s face. “Don’t stop, hyung, please.”

 

Kibum has never been able to say no to Taemin.

 

The next morning, Kibum keeps Taemin in bed with him until Jinki leaves for work. He coos loving words at Taemin until the younger falls asleep again, and only then does he leave to check on Jonghyun.

 

Jonghyun’s room is empty.

 

~~~

 

_yay, second chapter up!_

 


	3. 3

As he searches for Jonghyun in the city, the main thought that plagues Kibum’s mind is that this should not be happening. Vampires usually don’t even have the strength to stand before feeding off their maker, let alone walk away and disappear completely.

 

Kibum doesn’t want to entertain the possibility that Jinki somehow found out and that while he was fucking Taemin, Jinki had come over and taken care of the situation they way he would have ordered them to had they told him the truth. He doesn’t want to entertain the possibility that Jonghyun might be dead.

 

But, as the sun sets and not a single sign or clue of Jonghyun’s whereabouts presents itself to him, Kibum has no choice but to put off the search and return home. Jinki will be coming back from work soon, and Kibum doesn’t think Taemin will be able to handle the elder by himself.

 

The moment Kibum steps foot into the house, he knows something is wrong.

 

Normally, Taemin will either drop whatever he’s doing to come and greet him, or Kibum will be able to hear whatever mischief he’s in the middle of.

 

Tonight, the house is eerily quiet.

 

There’s something else too, a disturbance that Kibum can sense, and he ignores the warning in his gut to run away; instead, he climbs the stairs as quietly as he can.

 

The house is dark. Another sign of something gone wrong. Taemin sometimes likes to practice using his night vision to navigate, but he always leaves a light on somewhere, because-

 

\- because a dark house is a warning.

 

Stay away.

 

That’s what Taemin is trying to tell him.

 

Kibum’s feet come to a stop on the landing, frozen. He should run, it is the sane thing to do.

 

But what if, his mind asks, what if Taemin is still here?

 

Kibum knows he is; he can sense Taemin’s presence in the house.

 

“You can come in,” a familiar voice calls out, sweet as honey. “We know you’re there.”

 

With trembling hands, Kibum pushes his room door open.

 

The scene Kibum comes upon is not an unfamiliar one. Jonghyun and Taemin are reclining on his bed, the smaller vampire practically lying on top of Jonghyun, and the human has his arms circled around him almost protectively.

 

“Come in, Kibum-ah, don’t make me ask you again.” Jonghyun’s voice is breathy and high-pitched like it usually is, but there is an underlying venom to it that Kibum has never heard before. He steps into the dark room – the only source of light is a dull orange glow from the streetlight outside the house – thankful that he’s powerful enough to be able to see well in the dark.

 

That thankfulness quickly turns into regret.

 

Fear is plain in Taemin’s face. It’s visible in the way he flashes like an ambulance or a police car, switching violently from one neon colour to another as if trying to attract as much attention as possible; as if he’s screaming  _help me_  without saying a word at all.

 

There’s not much of Jonghyun that Kibum can see, so he can’t be sure how Jonghyun managed to walk all the way here without having first drunk of another vampire, without having first healed all the bones that were broken in the accident. What he can see, though, are Jonghyun’s eyes.

 

His eyes are red.

 

There is nothing recognisably Jonghyun – or indeed, human – in them any longer. Kibum looks into those red eyes and sees a stranger, a monster.

 

And that monster has Taemin trapped in his arms.

 

Something of this realisation must show in his face, prompting Jonghyun to laugh at him. “Awww, don’t worry baby,” he croons. “Taeminnie and I are just having a bit of fun, aren’t we?”

 

When Taemin fails to respond to him, Jonghyun laughs again – nothing like his usually carefree, sometimes shy, laugh that Kibum has grown to adore – and licks a long stripe up the back of Taemin’s neck. Taemin shudders at the contact and Kibum’s nails are digging into the flesh of his palm before he realises how tightly his fists are clenched.

 

“Now I know why you liked to do that so much,” Jonghyun says, addressing Taemin. “I wonder how else I can make you shiver.”

 

“Ple-” Kibum is ready to plead with Jonghyun to let Taemin go when he senses a change in the air.

 

Jinki.

 

How he managed to come up here without any one of them hearing the door or the stairs is not a mystery; he’s far more powerful than Kibum and Taemin put together, and cloaking his presence is child’s play for the eldest vampire.

 

His eyes are hard. “Who are you?” he asks Jonghyun. “Why do you trespass against my kin?”

 

It’s a fancy way of asking what the hell Jonghyun thinks he’s doing, coming into Jinki’s house and harassing his children.

 

Jonghyun just smiles, despite the way his body is tense now. His arms tighten around Taemin and he clamps a hand over Taemin’s mouth. “Oh, haven’t Key and Tae mentioned me? I’m Jonghyun, and I can’t say how excited I am to be finally meeting you after months of drinking your coffee and watching your TV and borrowing your shampoo. Nice taste, by the way. Unlike these two, I don’t enjoy smelling like fruit after showering.”

 

It’s almost imperceptible, the way Jinki’s eyes flick towards Kibum for conformation, but Kibum sees it anyway. His involuntary flinch is enough for Jinki to know that Jonghyun isn’t lying.

 

“Who is your sire?” Jinki asks. His voice is even, but there is a fury in it that Kibum has never heard before.

 

Taemin whimpers then, his hair and eyes turning stormy like the sea, and a look of disgust crosses Jinki’s face. “I taught you better.” He turns to Kibum. “Both of you.” 

 

 _Please help us_ , Kibum thinks, projecting the thought with the hope that Jinki will pick up on it.  _Help him_.

 

Nothing happens. Jonghyun and Jinki appear to be caught in some sort of standoff. Taemin shifts in Jonghyun’s arms and the once-human tightens his grip. “Oh no,” he croons. “Stop struggling, or I’ll have to make you stop and then your hyung will eviscerate me and where will that leave us?”

 

“Why would I?” Jinki asks then, startling Kibum.

 

“Hyung,” he says, unwilling to believe what Jinki is saying.

 

“You deliberately disobeyed me. Both of you. And you lied about it.” Jinki’s eyes are hard and cold; like black ice. This isn’t an empty threat designed to scare them into obedience, it’s punishment. Kibum had thought that Jinki would know how to save them, but he hadn’t accounted for the possibility that he might not want to. “Why should I save you from your foolishness?”

 

Jonghyun laughs and he lowers his lips to kiss the juncture between Taemin’s shoulder and his neck. Kibum’s heart stops.

 

Until the moment Jonghyun fangs sink into Taemin’s soft skin – the skin Kibum has kissed and caressed and smacked and pinched and tenderly loved for many decades now – and blood spills, Kibum still hopes that Jinki has not abandoned them. When a scream passes Taemin’s lips and Jinki stands still, indifferent, Kibum realises that he has.

 

It seems like an eternity to Kibum, but in reality Jonghyun doesn’t drink much from Taemin. When he withdraws his fangs from Taemin’s neck, the latter sags forward weakly. There are tears streaming down his face and Kibum’s heart aches; he knows how painful it is to be bitten and it is not something he would ever have wished on Taemin.

 

“Well, that’s done, so I’ll be taking my leave now.” Jonghyun slides to the edge of the bed, dragging an unresisting Taemin with him. “I’d ask to stay, but I’m more of the lone wolf type.”

 

“Stop.”

 

It is a command and to Kibum’s surprise, Jonghyun does stop, although he holds Taemin in front of himself like a shield.

 

At this point, Kibum doesn’t care what Jonghyun or Jinki do to each other. He doesn’t care about Jonghyun staying or leaving, or the fact that a newborn vampire like him shouldn’t be able to do anything that he’s doing. All he wants is to have Taemin in his arms, where he can keep him safe.

 

“You are an abomination,” Jinki continues. “It was my offspring’s mistake to turn you, but I cannot let you live.”

 

 _No_ , Kibum’s mind screams,  _don’t provoke him. Not while he has Taemin in his arms._

 

Jinki, again, pays him no heed. He takes a step forward towards Jonghyun, who inches closer to the window; it’s almost a slow-motion chase.  

 

“Come closer and I’ll rip his throat out,” Jonghyun threatens.

 

A muted whimper escapes Taemin at that point, and for the first time since the night began, he looks up at Kibum. He’s absolutely still, and Kibum can read his terror in the way that his colours don’t change at all.

 

“It’s okay,” Kibum says then. “We can resolve this.” Not out of any hope that Jonghyun and Jinki can end this stand-off without bloodshed, but to reassure Taemin that his family hasn’t abandoned him yet.

 

“Really?” Jonghyun asks, raising an eyebrow at Kibum. His grip on Taemin’s shoulder tightens. “I think your hyung is lying,” he says to Taemin. “Do you remember what I said when I came to find you, Taeminnie?”

 

Whatever it is Jonghyun said to him, the memory of it makes Taemin shake with fear. His colour changes too, to something that Kibum cannot read – dark brown hair and faintly tanned skin – until he realises that Taemin isn’t wearing a colour; something he hasn’t stopped doing since he learnt how to.

 

Jinki finally betrays the slightest hint of concern, in the way his brows furrow and his whole body becomes alert, as if he’s anticipating a sudden move from Jonghyun.

 

Jonghyun just grins madly and lowers his hand from Taemin’s mouth. “Go on, Taeminnie. Tell them.”

 

“Stop it.” Kibum can’t stand the to see Taemin tormented this way, can’t stand to see this monster wearing Jonghyun’s face make a mockery of their friendship.

 

“Key-hyung, don’t look-” is all Taemin manages to get out before Jonghyun wrenches his two hands – one on Taemin’s chin and the other on his shoulder – in opposite directions. Kibum hears a sound like a thunderclap, but he doesn’t realise what it is  _the snapping of bone_  until Taemin slumps to the ground, limp  _lifeless_.

 

Jinki roars and launches himself at Jonghyun, grabbing the red-eyed vampire just as he’s about to jump out of the window. They tear into each other, vicious.

 

But Kibum doesn’t care.

 

He sidesteps them, and crouches beside Taemin, waiting for him to change his colours. He must be so scared, so why isn’t he turning stormy sea blue like he always does when he’s scared? The bite must hurt too. Taemin always turns the skin around his injuries see-through, to make it easier to tend to the wound, so why isn't he doing it now? 

 

“Taeminnie?” Kibum’s voice breaks on his name, because he knows that Taemin will never answer him again.

 

Behind him, Jinki throws Jonghyun into the wall, and Jonghyun’s reaction is to laugh.

 

The sound of the monster’s laughter snaps Kibum from his daze, and rage overtakes sorrow. Jinki moves to attack the monster again, before it can recover from his earlier blow, but Kibum beats him to it. He throws himself into Jonghyun – which feels like colliding with a brick wall – and sinks his fangs into the beast’s chest. He’ll rip his beating heart out, Kibum vows.

 

Claws slash into his side, but Kibum ignores the pain.

 

“Kibum!” Jinki cries out. “He’s stronger than you!”

 

The warning comes a beat too late; Jonghyun swats Kibum aside like he’s a mosquito, and attempts to crawl out of the window again. This time, he’s slower. This time, he’s bleeding.

 

Jinki grabs him by the ankles and pulls him back in, but Kibum’s vengeance is yet unsatisfied. He gathers his strength and throws himself at Jonghyun again, and this time he sinks his fangs into the creature’s throat.

 

A death cry erupts from Jonghyun’s lips. In desperation, his claws slash at Kibum without aim; the only purpose of the blows is to cause damage, to injure his opponent enough to make him let go. But Kibum remains steadfast. He keeps his teeth in the monster’s neck until it stops struggling, until he can no longer feel its breath, until the heart in its still distorted chest stops beating.

 

Only then does Kibum let go.

 

“Kibum, pet, look at me,” Jinki says. His voice is even once more. Kibum tries get up from where he's slumped to the floor, but there isn’t anymore strength in his limbs, not even to obey the command of his sire. 

 

Tender hands cup his face, and then he sees Jinki’s face; full of love, full of sorrow. It is then Kibum understands.

 

There is so much he wants to say – I am not afraid, do not mourn me, remember me every now and again, I am glad you were my sire, thank you for the life we had together – but the only word that passes through his lips is “Tae.”

 

“He’s right here.” Jinki disappears for a moment. A moment later, he returns cradling Taemin’s body. His clothes are torn and bloody, and his neck lies at an odd angle, but the expression on his face is almost peaceful.

 

As Kibum watches, Jinki lays Taemin next to him. With numb fingers, Kibum touches the still warm skin of his baby, his brother, his lover. I am so sorry I couldn’t protect you, he thinks.

 

“Hush,” Jinki says, running a hand through his hair. “You did nothing wrong. He’s started a new adventure, that’s all. And he won’t be going alone. You’ll be with him. And… and I’ll join you when my turn comes, my wonderful Kibum.”

 

A new adventure, Kibum repeats in his head. With Taemin. He’s ready for a new adventure, but perhaps he’d like to sleep first. He’s awfully tired.

 

“Rest now,” Jinki says.

 

So Kibum does.

 

 

 

XXXXX

 

_well, here it is. the much-delayed final chapter._

 

_this was so hard to write, particularly the part where i had to kill taemin._

 

_so... let me know what you think?  i'm sure half of you (at least) saw this coming. it is a horror fic after all._


	4. Epilogue

 

 

 

He buries Kibum and Taemin under the tree in their backyard. He digs the hole himself, and lays them side by side in the dark, rich soil. 

 

There will never come a day when he won't regret his actions last night. He had been angry with his children and he had intended to make clear his lesson that nothing but pain could come out of consorting with humans. But in failing to take into account the strength and viciousness of a blood moon vampire - a vampire born on the night of a blood moon - Jinki had failed them. 

 

How the two of them came to know this human, Jinki can only guess. Why Taemin turned him, why Kibum hid this from him; these are questions to which he will never find an answer. 

 

"Forgive me," Jinki asks of them. He covers the grave mechanically. He wants to remember his children - the one he sired and the one he adopted - as they would want to be remembered; alive, full of mischief and devoted to one another. He wants to remember the smile on Taemin's face when he first learnt to change his colours. He wants to remember how eagerly Kibum threw himself into each new thing he learnt.

 

When the grave is covered and ground levelled, Jinki lays a bouquet of daisies on top of it. 

 

As for the other vampire's body, Jinki had chopped its limbs to pieces and set them alight in a shallow grave; he had covered it only once he had been satisfied that there was no possibility of it rising again. 

 

At sunrise, Jinki closes the door of their house - once ringing with laughter, now silent and foreboding - and leaves, never to return. 

 

 


End file.
